Going Public
by Mindy35
Summary: CASKETT. Castle and Beckett come out of the relationship closet.


Title: Going Public

Author: mindy35

Rating: K+, sexual references

Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended.

Spoilers: Nada

Pairing: Castle/Beckett

Summary: Castle and Beckett come out of the relationship closet.

-x-x-x-

The pleading began in the lobby of the 12th, as it had for the past three days:

"Please."

"No."

"_Pleeease?"_

"No."

"Please!"

Kate shot him a sidelong glare, her voice rising with irritation, "What're you deaf? I said no, Castle."

Castle reacted like a dejected schoolboy, kicking his toe against the aged linoleum. "Come on, Kate. It's been three weeks. More, actually."

"That reminds me," she said, marching onto the elevator before the doors were even fully ajar, "at work, you need to call me Beckett." She punched their button then waved a finger at him. "Not Kate. You got that?"

Castle followed her on, positioning himself at her elbow, just an inch or so too close. "You know, you're gonna have to start calling me Rick at some point. It's starting to get weird, especially during certain intimate moments."

She looked over her shoulder at him then away again. "Yeah, well, I will…When I'm ready. In the meantime, you called me Kate twice yesterday and it's a dead giveaway." She bit her thumb, watching the numbers above their heads start to ascend. "Luckily, Ryan and Esposito didn't pick up on it…"

"And so what if they did?" he sighed, his exasperation resurfacing. "What does it matter if they know? What does it matter if _everybody_ knows?"

Kate faced him, face fixed in a frown. "We already discussed this. We _agreed_."

"No. _You _discussed it. I just nodded along."

"Well, excuse me for assuming that that meant you were in agreement."

"In my defence," Castle said, eyes drifting downwards, "you were naked from the waist up. I would've agreed to pretty much anything at the time."

Her frown deepened. "Were you paying any attention to me at all?"

"Oh, I was paying attention," he murmured, letting out a long, dreamy sigh, "Very close attention…"

She put two fingers under his chin, nudging it up so his eyes met hers. "I mean to what was coming out of my mouth."

"Oh. That." He shook himself, redirecting his mind back to their conversation. "I believe you said something about needing time."

"Right."

"Which was a week ago."

"Right," she shrugged as if it were no time at all, "a week."

"Exactly," he persisted, attempting to impress upon her the inordinately lengthy amount of time this was to him. "_One. Whole. Week_. Do you have any idea what kind of self-control it takes for me to hold my tongue about something like this for an entire week? Let alone three!"

"I told you already," she said, her voice losing a little of its usual assurance. "I don't want to rush into anything."

Castle tipped his head to one side, expression ripe with scepticism. "It's been five years, Kate, I'd hardly call that rushing into things. And this thing between us has been going on for nearly a month now. So I say we get out ahead of the story. Because people are going to start to suspect. Do you _know _how long the pool on us hooking up has been running? Hell, even the Mayor has a stake at this point. There are members of the Supreme Court debating the possibility of a marriage proposal before the Summer; UN diplomats engaged in talks about the likelihood of offspring, not to mention the ongoing speculation of my readers and your colleagues."

"I _know_, Castle. And that's exactly why I want to keep this between us for now." Her hands crept up his jacket, fiddling with the open halves as she told him quietly, "I want it to be just ours, for a little while at least, before everyone starts to intrude."

"But for how long?" he whined like that same dejected schoolboy.

"I don't know," she murmured, eyes lowered to her fingers on his clothes.

"Well, can you give me a ball-park figure? We're not talking another half-decade here, are we?"

"No. But…when I'm ready to go public, you'll know."

"_How_ will I know?"

"Believe me," she lifted her face to meet his gaze, "you'll know."

Castle's eyes narrowed. He studied her momentarily before stepping back, causing her hands to drop from his jacket. Facing the steel doors, he sniffed then drew himself up to his full height. "Fine, I get it. I know what's going on here."

Kate eyed him with amusement. "Excuse me?"

Castle refused to look at her. "Hey, you don't have to spell it out for me. You don't want people to know about us because you're ashamed of me."

"What? No–"

"No, I'm right, aren't I?" He turned on her, blue eyes glinting with challenge. "You're ashamed to admit you're with the doofy writer after insisting for so long that it would never happen."

"For the record, I have never called you doofy," she stated with pseudo-sincerity. "Lots of other things but never doofy."

"And not 'boyfriend' either."

"So what?"

Castle stepped closer, getting right in her face. "So you're chicken, Detective."

Kate tipped up her chin, body squaring up to his blatant challenge. "Well, why's it so important to you, huh? Why're you so gung-ho to just blurt it out everybody?" Castle opened his mouth to answer but she jumped in first, jabbing his chest with one finger. "I'll tell you why. _You_ just want bragging rights. You want to tell the world that you finally bedded the ice queen detective."

"Are you kidding me?" The words burst out of him, bringing everything to life with them – his eyes lit, his arms spread, even his hair bobbed with his sudden vehemence. "_Of course_ I want to brag about it! I want to take out a full page add in the _Ledger_. I want to shout from the Top of the Rock that I am in love with the most incredible woman on the planet. And that she fiiiinally admitted to loving me back. I want the whole wide world and his mother to know that I am head over heels in love with her mind and her mouth, and the way she moves and speaks and feels, and the sexy little mole on her upper–"

Kate clamped a hand over his mouth as the elevator doors slid open. "Well, restrain yourself. For a little while longer. 'Kay?"

Castle nodded, mumbling unintelligibly behind her hand but remaining silent once she removed it. He followed her off the elevator, stepping to one side as a trio of detectives, accompanied by some uniforms, boarded at a virtual run. As they moved through the bustling corridors, he couldn't help leaning close to her and noting quietly, "You know, this place is full of detectives. I'll bet _someone _has noticed that we've arrived at work at exactly the same time every morning for a week. Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

Kate kept walking, her all-capable work demeanour firmly in place. "That could be a coincidence. Who's to say we didn't just meet up in the lobby?"

"Yeah, right," he muttered behind her back. "What am I always telling you about coincidences?"

She hesitated, cast him a little look. "They don't exist."

"Exactly. I'm just sayin'…_that's_ a dead giveaway if you're looking for one." He paused then leant in to add as he sauntered on ahead of her, "As is the way you check out my ass, I should point out."

"I do not–" Kate stopped in her tracks. "I've _never_ checked out your ass."

Castle stopped too, giving a dubious snort. "Please. You were totally checking it out yesterday when I was wearing my tight new jeans." He shot her a look beneath his brows. "Fess up, Beckett. You did. And more than once, I might add."

Kate gathered herself and continued walking. "Like you're one to talk."

"That's different," he murmured, letting his gaze trickle down her spine as she overtook him. "I've always checked out your ass, nothing unusual about that. Doesn't blow our cover at all as I've been doing it for years." He grinned, knowing that she could hear it in his voice when he added, "And enjoying it too."

"Yeah, well, just don't call me Kate while you're doing it," she muttered before coming to an abrupt stop at her desk. "What's that?"

Castle's eyes followed her gaze. "That, my darling, is a chair."

"Don't call me that either," she told him without skipping a beat. "Not unless you want me to take out my gun and use it."

"I'm sorry, allow me to rephrase." Castle stood to attention, clearing his throat a few times. "That,_ Detective_ Darling, if I'm not very much mistaken, is a chair."

Kate let the name issue go, instead asking, "What's it doing here?"

"Waiting to be sat in, as chairs generally do."

"I mean, what happened to my old chair?"

"It's in the dumpster out back."

She frowned at the foreign object in her workspace. "Why?"

"This one is better, more supportive." Grabbing the back of the chair, he wheeled it out from under the desk to show it to her, giving a game-show-like flourish of one hand. "It won't give you a backache because it's specifically designed to suit your weight and body type."

"What do you know about my body type?" she asked, eyes flicking up to his.

Castle smirked at her. "A whole lot more than I did three weeks ago."

"Okay…" She had to concede that one, her eyes dropping from his as a slight blush painted her cheeks. "But…how did you know my old chair gave me a backache?"

"Because you were always adjusting it. And rubbing your back after sitting for long periods. Oh, and the other day in the break room you said 'I hate my chair, it makes my back ache'."

"I didn't think you were listening."

"I'm always listening. You should know that by now." Castle gave the chair a little spin then scooted it towards her. "So why don't you give it a try?"

Slowly, Kate stepped closer, turning her back to him and taking a seat. Hands still on the back of it, Castle tucked her into her desk then leant over her shoulder to murmur, "Well? How is it?"

"It's…good," she nodded. "Comfy."

"I'm glad. And don't worry," he added, voice low in her ear, "I waited until the bullpen was empty to make the switch. So no one will know it was from me. No one will suspect this chair of being a gesture of undying love on my part. No one will guess our big secret."

"Right..."

"Speaking of gestures of undying love–" He turned to look at her and she instinctively met his gaze, "Coffee?"

"Yeah…" she breathed, his sudden proximity making her breaths shallower. Castle retreated swiftly though, heading for the break room with a satisfied little spring in his step – until her voice stopped him. "And Castle?" She rose from her new chair, glanced back at it as she stepped over to him. "One more thing, I, ah…I just–" Her hands found the jacket she'd been fiddling with earlier, she tugged on it, pulling him close as she rose onto her toes, letting her mouth collide with his in the method they'd been perfecting every night for nearly a month.

Castle was grinning when she pulled back. "Now that's what I call a dead giveaway."

"So I changed my mind," she shrugged, arms sliding up to his shoulders. "Woman's prerogative."

"I am not complaining," he murmured, familiar hands finding her waist.

"Good," she said and kissed him again, right out in the open, where anyone and everyone could see. Which they did.

An accumulative chorus of whoops and cheers broke them apart and when their mouths separated and their eyes opened, they looked about to see that their public display of affection had drawn a small crowd at the periphery of the bullpen, one that included Ryan and Esposito huddled by the rear stairs. Ryan was grinning widely while Esposito was pumping the air with a fist. A clump of uniforms were letting loose loud wolf-whistles, some others were simply applauding while a few of the female detectives looked more than a little misty-eyed.

Kate turned to him, noting with a small smile, "Looks like we're having our own _Officer and a Gentleman_ moment here, Castle."

"S'that make me the officer or the gentleman?" he mused, brows crumpled.

She tipped her head to one side. "I'm pretty sure a gentleman wouldn't have his hand on my ass right now."

"It's above the ass, not on the cheek," he said, the hand in question staying exactly where it was. "I'm not completely without class, you know."

"Also," she added, biting her lip in the way she knew drove him crazy, "a real gentleman would've gotten me coffee by now."

"I was trying-!" he spluttered, both arms gesturing towards the break room as if to prove his unwilling imprisonment. "I was on my way there when you, you _accosted _me!"

"Whatever…" she purred, nudging his nose with her own. "Where's my caffeine fix? Hmm…?"

"I was just–" Not yet accustomed to a Kate Beckett who openly flirted with him, Castle didn't quite know what to do with himself. "I'm…I…" He simply stared at her as she continued to rub her nose against his. Then tearing himself away, he turned to the break room, "I'll be…wait, no–" he turned back again, spinning on the spot for a moment. "You're coming with me," he muttered, scooping her up and off her feet before continuing on his path.

"Castle!" she shrieked, one hand batting his shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Channelling my inner Richard Gere," he answered as the whoops and cheers of their colleagues increased. "I knew I shoulda worn my dress whites today..."

Kate was no longer smiling or flirting. Her voice was steely as she ordered, "Richard Castle, you put me down right now before I flatten you."

Reaching the door to the break room, Castle deposited her back on her feet. And as she staggered, trying to right herself and regain her composure, he held one hand high and began addressing their gathering audience. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, for your support and your many years of speculation. I am pleased to announce that it has paid off and the Castle-Beckett pool is now officially closed!"

A collective cheer went up, accompanied by a few losing groans. Money immediately began being exchanged, along with numerous _Told you sos_.

Castle, however, was far from finished. This was a moment he'd been waiting for for many years. There was no way he wasn't going to milk it for all it was worth. "I have only one thing to add."

Beside him, Kate shot him a death look. "Castle. Don't you dare."

He ignored it, spread his hands above his head and proclaimed, "I am in love with Katherine Beckett!"

Another cheer rang out, this one peppered with knowing laughter and a few grumbles of 'duh'. Meanwhile, Ryan and Esposito were snickering behind their hands like gossipy teenage girls whose long held hunches had finally proved true.

Their fellow detective's face was turning a real, proper red. "Castle…"

But her partner was unstoppable. "Madly, passionately, shamelessly in love!"

"Castle!" she hissed.

"It's true," he continued, his voice a few decibels louder than ordinary so that the entire precinct could share in their moment, "I cannot deny it any longer. I love her mouth and her mind and the mole on her–"

An arm whacked his stomach. "_Castle!"_

"I even love when she hits me," he went on after a moment, coughing as he cradled his belly, "which she still does, for the record, quite a bit. But I don't care because I love how she looks in my shirts in the morning. And how she cooks my bacon extra crispy for me. And how she sings 90s pop tunes in the shower."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh my God…"

"I love the two little wrinkles she gets here when she's pissed at me." He pointed at the two lines above her nose, "There they are, right there. And I love the tiny little freckle right below her left eye, that freckle just kills me."

"_I'll _kill you," she muttered, smacking his hand away.

"I also love," he told their audience, shaking his head in quiet astonishment, "how she has this uncanny ability to know exactly when to tell me to shut up."

"Shut the hell up, Castle." She grabbed his arm and began dragging him inside the break room.

"See? How adorable is that? Almost as adorable as how tetchy she is before her first caffeine fix. Oh–!" He yanked his arm free as he thought of one more thing to publically declare his love for, "and the way both her hands sometimes grasp the coffee cup like it's gonna run away from her? I love that too. Speaking of which, friends and colleagues, I am now going to make my woman happy–" Castle put a hand beside his mouth, muttering with mock discretion and more than a little salacious smugness, "for the _third time_ this morning–"

Kate's mouth dropped open, she seized his arm again and began pulling in earnest.

"–and make her the best coffee she's ever tasted in her life, thankyouandgoodnight!" he finished hastily as he was unceremoniously hauled away.

Kate slammed the door once he was inside then let out a large huff. Her eyes rose to his slowly but Castle was either too high on his public declaration of love or too insensible to heed her wrath.

"Well," he commented blithely, "guess the cat's out of the bag now."

"You don't say?" she muttered, jaw clenched.

He took her shoulders in both hands, grinning down at her. "And you thought that telling everyone would be embarrassing. See? I told you! No big deal, nothing to be ashamed of."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "You're kidding me, right?"

"What?" he shrugged, unable to stem or apparently even hide his excitement at their love affair going public. "That was awesome! We just came out! And in grand style, I must say." He turned towards the coffee machine, rubbing his hands together. "How about a shot of caramel to celebrate?"

Kate stared after him, speechless. Her head shook in disbelief as he began whistling and preparing their coffee. "You are without doubt the most irrational, the most irritating man I've ever met in my life. D'you know that?"

"And you love me," he replied over his shoulder. "How irrational does that make you?"

At a loss, she began to pace the space behind him. "Hey, I've loved you almost as long as I've found you irritating. The two are not mutually exclusive in my mind. In fact, Rick, there is a very fine line between a life-threatening level of irritation and my fonder feelings for you." She stopped pacing when she felt him looking at her. "…What?"

He smiled a little. "You called me Rick."

"I told you I would," she said. "When I was ready."

"I like it," he murmured as the milk he was frothing began to rise to the rim. "Say it again."

She walked over to him, peering into the jug. "You'll burn the milk, hotshot."

Castle turned back to the coffee machine. "Ooo, 'hotshot', I'm likin' that too…"

Kate resumed her pacing, a little slower now, mumbling half-heartedly, "I'll have plenty more names for you if you don't get me that coffee pronto."

A moment later, he flicked off the steam and poured the milk into her favorite mug. "One large frothy, caramelly, double-shot latte coming up, otherwise known as 'Castle's-heart-in-a-cup'." He handed her the cup with a smile and the warning, "Drink slowly, that's my heart in your hands."

Kate took a sip and sighed. Every nerve in her body simultaneously relaxed. She closed her eyes and took another.

Castle took the opportunity while she was occupied with her much-needed caffeine fix to roll his shoulder a few times, shaking out the arm she'd tugged at and mouthing a discreet 'ow'. When she opened her eyes, he quickly covered by plucking up the jug and pouring is own coffee. "So…you realize what this means, don't you?"

"What?" she replied, her former wrath all but dispelled.

"Now that everyone knows…" he turned to her, coffee in hand and mouth curving upwards, "we can totally make out at work now, like all the time."

"No," she said, shooting him a stern look over the rim of her cup. "We can't."

"Some of the time then," he amended, taking a sip of coffee and making a face at its sweetness.

Kate sipped her drink silently, enigmatic eyes on his.

"Occasionally…?" he tried hopefully, shuffling closer.

"Occasionally," she conceded after a moment's thought. "_Maybe_. When we are not working a case. And when we are taking a break. And when no one's watching."

"You mean like…." Castle glanced about, eyes wide, "right now?"

Kate just thumbed some froth from the corner of his mouth and put it in her own. "You know, I gotta hand it to you, Castle, you make one hell of a coffee."

"You love that about me, right?" he murmured, gaze lingering on her mouth.

"That," she said, lifting a brow. "And your cute ass."

His face immediately lit up. "I knew it! You _were_ checking it out, weren't you?"

Kate sidled closer, until her face was mere millimetres from his. Then she told him in a low, slow, deliberate voice, "Your ass is mine now, Castle. I can check it out if and whenever I want." And with that, she made for the door, but not before giving his wounded shoulder a quick kiss.

"What else?"

"What else what?"

Castle darted after her, hot coffee sloshing onto his fingers and making him gasp. "What else do you love about me?" He opened the door for her then followed her out. "Tell me everything, starting at the beginning…"

_END._


End file.
